Louis Riel

This carte-de-visite of Métis leader Louis Riel provides an example of how a photograph of a political figure circulates information and ideas. Riel led the Red River Resistance in 1869-70, and then negotiated the terms of Manitoba’s entry into Confederation with the Dominion of Canada. Years later, in 1885, Riel led the Northwest Resistance in support of Métis' rights and identity, for which he was hanged. This photograph was taken at some point between those two events.

As Sarah Carter and Inez Lightning have shown, Riel’s portrait circulated widely as both a carte-de-visite and as a wood engraving. In the reproductions, changes to the image allowed Riel to appear at times heroic and at other times dangerous.